Nolan has the two Tylers kickin' it in gear

When interim coach Ted Nolan replaced Ron Rolston, his mantra was pretty simple:  just play the game.

Rolston was an "X's and O's" coach who stressed positioning to the point that the whole team was stressed. Any form of expression was to be found within the confines of his strict regiment.

The result was a 4-15-1 record for the 2013-14 season and some of the ugliest hockey Sabres fans have ever witnessed.

Enter Nolan.



Gracious and awed by his return to Buffalo, the veteran of over 325 NHL games behind the bench walked in with no expectations, no pressure and no pre-conceived notions.

This was a bad  team, with a lot of youth and some individual talent in a league that was just crushing them.

Maybe it was similar to his Latvian National Team at the 2012 World Championship. Nolan came in with a team ranked 11th out of 16 total teams.

There are a couple of things one can expect from a Nolan-coached team and Sabres fans know this first-hand, hard work and over achievement.

And this rag-tag collection of Sabres players is no exception.

Nolan stripped everything down and got the team on the right track by playing to it's strength--goaltending. He got them skating hard and playing both ends of the ice. And as time progressed he brought out more compete in the players. More compete lead to winning more puck battles. And winning more puck battles gave them more opportunities on offense.

The team still had trouble burying the puck, but the more chances you create, the higher the probability that the puck will end up in the net.


Sabres' interim coach Ted Nolan is letting his players play.
And the two Tylers, Ennis (l) and Myers (r)
seem to be enjoying it.
(courtesy of Jerome Davis/Icon SMI via hockey'sfuture.com)

 As time progressed each player was allowed to play to their strengths without worry. The grinders were grittier, the puck-movers found more break-out seams and the skilled players were allowed the freedom to create.

Last night versus Columbus two very creative players showed just how much skill was in them.

Tyler Myers and Tyler Ennis, two 2008 first round picks for Buffalo, were magnificent.

Myers was as dominant as he was back in his Calder Trophy winning season in 2010. He skated for 22 min. (oddly enough, none on the PK) and had two goals including the game-tying goal with :25 left in the third period.

His confidence level is as high as it's ever been. He's skating like a gazelle, he's hitting hard (maybe too hard?) and he's pinching in without fear.

Yesterday both of his goals were from the slot where he drifted in on the play and sent a wrister past Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Both were pinpoint and virtually unstoppable. And both were a result of a confidence in himself and his abilities.

(thx to libron100 for the vid)

Ennis lead the forwards in ice-time last night with just over 25 minutes.

The jitterbug was shuckin' and jivin', weaving in and out of traffic and stickhandling in a phone booth.

This is nothing new, really. Ennis has been known for his shiftiness and, as former coach Lindy Ruff once said, "greazyness."

The difference with Ennis this time was that he got some production out of his slick work.

Unlike his Max Afinogenov-like tendencies where he was doin' a whole lot of choppin' but no chips were flyin', Ennis channeled his inner Derek Roy as a shifty set-up man. And although he didn't score a goal on his team-leading seven shots, he was able to get the puck where it needed to be for two assists while garnering the game's third star for his efforts.

As Nolan and LaFontaine, as well as new GM Tim Murray, look for building blocks while sifting rubble of the Darcy Regier regime, the two Tylers showed just what they have to offer.

Consistency will be a big factor moving forward, especially with Ennis. With talent at a premium on this Sabres squad, both have a golden opportunity to have an impact on the team.

If they can kick it like they did last night game-in, game-out, there's a lot to like about the new core of the future.